On Angels Wings
by andrewjameswilliams
Summary: Sequel to A New Destiny. As Xander begins to learn to use his new powers the Scoobies have to learn to deal with the changes to Xander, put up with a green new Watcher and all the while face their greatest foe yet.
1. Chapter 1

_**On Angels Wings**_

Authors Note: This is a sequel to A New Destiny I would advise that you read the first story before reading this one otherwise the story might not make that much sense. As with the previous story this is a crossover between Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and Charmed, though it will be focused primarily on Buffy, Xander and the Scoobies you can expect some appearances from the Charmed Ones and Leo as the story goes on.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters that I am about to play around with for my own amusement. They remain the property of their respective creators.

* * *

_**Chapter One**_

Xander Harris resisted the impulse to sigh as he stood at the base of the steps leading up to the main entrance of Sunnydale's main public library. He had put off coming here for a few days, taking the time to adjust to the reality that despite appearances he wasn't the same Xander Harris that he had been just a week ago. Adjusting to the reality that he wasn't a human anymore hadn't been easy not that he regretted the choice he'd made to become what he was now, it was just hard getting used to the reality of being not just a whitelighter but the only whitelighter on the Hellmouth.

Mentally he shook himself before he could descend back into the thoughts he had an investigation into their illustrious mayor to start an investigation the other Scoobies knew nothing about yet and wouldn't until he had something to present to them as they wouldn't believe him otherwise not that he could blame them. He had initially thought to include Giles in the investigation but the technically ex-Watcher would certainly ask why they were investigating the mayor and he would not be able to provide him with an answer, certainly he couldn't tell him that the Elders had indicated that he needed to do it when they transformed him into a whitelighter as the Elders had been clear that he was to keep his new status a secret from the others for as long as possible. Not that that would be long as Buffy already seemed to know something had changed with him, though at the time she'd dismissed the odd feeling she got off him as being the result of exhaustion it was only really a matter of time before his secret came out.

With calmness that he wasn't sure he really felt he ascended the steps and entered the air conditioned comfort of the library and approached the front desk. A middle aged woman in a light grey suit looked up as she heard his approach. "Can I help you young man," she asked surprised to see a teenager come in as few bothered to come to the library mostly because it wasn't considered 'cool' to come here.

"Yes I was looking to do some research on the current government of Sunnydale for a school project," Xander replied with a small white lie, the research was for a project after all just not a school one.

"Ah right this way," the librarian answered with a smile before leading him into the main part of the library. Xander noticed idly how very much like the high school library it was, it had the same smell of old books but it was a lot bigger and there were many more books. _Giles and Willow would have a field day in here,_ he thought with a mental smile as he followed the librarian past multiple rows of bookcases to a room separated by a glass wall from the rest of the library. Arranged around the edges of the room were a number of computers.

"You'll be able to find the information you require on any one of these," the librarian told him, "they will also allow remote access to the city council's archives. Just follow the on screen instructions to log into the system."

"Thank you."

"If you need any further assistance please let me know," the woman replied with a kind smile before walking away. Picking a computer Xander sat down and followed the instructions to log into the system and began looking for any information on Mayor Richard Wilkins the Third.

* * *

**Sometime Later**

Willow was in a bad mood as she walked purposefully through the public library, she had been planning to visit one of her favourite Wicca websites on her computer at home only to find that it had picked up a virus from somewhere and she couldn't even get windows to load up let alone run the programs needed to clear the virus. Normally she would go over Oz's to use his PC but her honey was away this weekend with the Dingoes who were doing a gig at some club in San Diego and since it was a Saturday the high school was locked up so she couldn't use the terminal in the school library either which left the public internet terminals here in the library. It wasn't perfect as she wouldn't be able to use the chat rooms or functions like MSN messenger but it would have to do.

Arriving at the computer room at the back of the library she instantly forgot her annoyance at the circumstances that had brought her here when she saw who else was in the computer room. Sitting at one of the PC's and looking like he had been there for awhile going on the number of print outs and notes he had with him was the very last person she had ever expected to see in a library.

"Xander," she said in shock making her oldest friend jump slightly in his seat as he clearly hadn't heard her come in, so intent on what he was doing. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh hey Wills," Xander replied looking over at her and she immediately caught the serious look on his face. "As for what I'm doing here research and if my findings are correct we could have a serious problem on our hands."

"What do you mean?" Willow asked in concern.

"Because it looks like the same man has been the mayor for the last hundred years."

"What!"

"Here take a look," Xander said offering her a number of print outs. Sitting down at the computer next to the one Xander was on Willow began carefully reading through the print outs. What she saw and read sent a chill down her spine.

"This can't be right," she breathed after a few minutes of careful study.

"I know I checked it three times it is correct," Xander replied sounding equally grim. "As hard as it is to believe our current mayor is the same Richard Wilkins who founded this town a hundred years ago."

"We should go and tell Giles and we need to tell Buffy."

"Giles first maybe he could use whatever contacts he has left among the Watchers to corroborate these finds. Whoa did I just use corroborate?"

"You did what you trying that word a day thing again?"

"Maybe it just slipped out," Xander replied grinning back before turning serious again. "Giles should be at his home he didn't say anything about going anywhere today. My car's parked out back."

"Then let's go shall we?"

"Yeah let me just log off and clear up then we can go."

"Okay," Willow agreed and watched as Xander got all his notes and print outs together and slipped them into a folder which he then slipped into a backpack she hadn't seen before logging out of the system.

In a few minutes they were outside again heading for the public car park at the back where Xander's car was waiting to take them to see Giles.

"Xander what made you research the mayor in the first place," Willow asked abruptly as they drove down the busy streets of the town. "I mean you normally don't like doing research."

"Just a feeling," Xander replied evasively.

"Don't give me that mister I know you too well to not notice your being evasive."

"I can't tell you Willow. You probably wouldn't believe me if I did."

"Resolve face."

"No."

"Resolve face."

"Oh fine," Xander replied with a sigh knowing that he was beaten. He never could argue with Willow's resolve face, their was just something about the puppy dog eyes mixed with the steeled features that just made all his defences melt like butter. "I was asked to look into Mayor Wilkins, I wasn't told what I would find – and to be honest I probably wouldn't have believed it even if I had been told – only that what I found would be precisely what it is interesting and more than a little alarming."

"Who asked you? And when?"

"I'm not sure who he was," Xander admitted truthfully as he didn't know the name of the Elder who'd spoken to him, or even if the Elders actually had individual names. "As for the when it was after I defeated Jack and his posse of zombies but before Buffy found me making safe the bomb in the basement."

"Buffy would have seen him."

"I'm still not sure what he was but he called himself an Elder and he used magic to speak with me in the moments between beating Jack and Buffy showing up," Xander answered skilfully mixing a white lie with the truth while wishing not for the first time that Willow wasn't such an attack dog when it came to wanting information. He didn't know how much more information he could give out without telling her that he was a whitelighter.

"An Elder and he used magic?" Xander didn't answer but before she could really press him for an answer he pulled them up outside the small townhouse where Giles lived. Eager to avoid being quizzed further by the redhead and possibly slipping up and saying more than he should, Xander stopped the car and hopped out Willow followed immediately, pausing long enough to grab Xander's backpack, before Xander locked the car and began walking up the path to the front door.

"Coming," a familiar voice called from inside moments after Xander rung the bell. The door opened to reveal Giles – who to both their surprise was actually wearing jeans and a green t-shirt as opposed to his normal tweed suit – who blinked in surprise at the sight of them. "Xander, Willow this is a surprise is something wrong?" Giles asked stepping aside to let the two teens into his home.

"You could say that Giles I think, no I know, that we could have a very serious problem on our hands," Xander replied as they entered.

Giles frowned in concern. "Take a seat in the lounge it's through there," he pointed to the right, "can I get you both something to drink before we talk?"

"I'm fine thanks," Xander replied a sentiment echoed by Willow.

Giles nodded in acceptance and led them into the living room. Once they were all comfortably settled he wasted no time in asking them what the problem was. Xander immediately answered detailing what he had found out about Mayor Wilkins apparently being at least a hundred years old and being the same man who'd bought the land the city was built on from the original Spanish inhabitants and transformed their tiny community into Sunnydale.

"Do you have proof," Giles asked after listening in silence, his concern growing all the while as only a very powerful practioner of black magic would be able to live for so long and even then they would have had to have undergone any number of dark rituals in order to ensure that long life. Xander nodded and handed him the folder with the printouts inside, among which were a number of photographs of the three people who'd called themselves Richard Wilkins over the last century. People who it was clear from the images were actually all the same man though the different hairstyles and period clothing made sure that they would seem like different people on a cursory inspection.

"Good lord," Giles muttered at last putting the papers down before taking off and starting to polish his glasses in his normal coping mechanism for situations like this one. "I'll call Buffy and Faith they need to be told about this. We'll have to fill Oz in when he returns from San Diego. Though I am curious as to what possessed you to start looking into this Xander."

"Apparently he was told to," Willow answered before Xander could speak.

"By whom may I ask?"

"Someone who called himself an Elder and who used magic to speak to Xander after he defeated Jack but before Buffy found him in the basement boiler room."

"An Elder," Giles repeated then his eyes widened as he only knew of one group who used that title and who had the power to speak to Xander in a single moment of time. "You mean a Whitelighter Elder is that who spoke to you, Xander?"

"Whitelighters? What are they, Giles," Willow asked.

"In a moment Willow. Well Xander was it a Whitelighter Elder who spoke to you?"

"It was," Xander admitted reluctantly. "Though he only called himself an Elder he left the whitelighter bit out."

"Good lord. Why didn't you tell me at the time that they had visited you?"

"I was told not to. Please Giles don't ask anymore about me talking to the Elder, I really shouldn't be telling you about meeting him at all."

"Giles what are whitelighters," Willow broke in frowning. "From the way you're acting I'm guessing that they are something big."

"They are. Whitelighters are essentially guarding angels Willow they look out for good witches such as yourself and other forces of light. The Elders are their leaders and they are immensely powerful higher beings it is almost unheard of for them to interact with the mortal world directly. They usually just send a whitelighter," Giles explained before looking back at Xander.

"Xander I understand why your reluctant to speak of this," he continued. "But you should have told me immediately after the Elder came to see you as while they are very powerful beings they cannot force you to be silent on the issue of them being involved to do so would be against free will upholding of which is one of the highest principles. The only way could really order you to be silent is if you… were...," his voice trailed off and his eyes widened as he suddenly understood the reason why Xander was so reluctant to talk about the Elder, why they had contacted him to ask that he investigate Mayor Wilkins and why he was obeying an order from them to keep quiet. There could be only one conclusion.

Xander was a whitelighter_._

"Is if Xander was what Giles," Willow demanded feeling a sudden apprehension grip her stomach. Giles didn't answer "Giles."

"It's okay Giles you can answer," Xander said softly resigned to the fact that his secret was going to come. He just hoped the Elders didn't get mad at him about it though they had indicated that they didn't really expect his secret to stay that way for long given how he hung around with a Slayer and how Buffy already seemed to be able to sense that he was different.

"Answer what? What's going on? Xander, Giles you're scaring me."

"Xander," Giles took a deep breath to calm his sudden nerves, though Willow wouldn't know what was involved in someone becoming a whitelighter – up until a few moments ago she hadn't even heard the name whitelighter let alone what one was - he knew that people who became whitelighters had to die first and he couldn't recall any time when Xander could have actually died. "Xander is…"

"…a whitelighter," Xander finished for him.

Willow froze. For a moment her mouth opened and then closed opened again but no sound came out of it. "What! But Xander's human how can he be a whitelighter you said they were angels," she demanded.

"No I'm not Wills," Xander answered softly knowing how hard this was going to be for Willow to hear. "I've not been human for a few days now. It's why I've been so quiet recently, I've been getting used to what I am now."

Willow froze again before beginning to shake. "But how…"

"How did I become a whitelighter? I died Willow," Xander answered softly standing up and moving over to his oldest friend. "Jack he… he killed me Willow after I stopped him from blowing up the school."

"You're, you're dead," Willow asked shaking more violently with emotion feeling her eyes burn with gathering tears.

"No I'm not dead, Willow, not now. I'm alive just not human, I look human, think like I did when I was human, feel all the same emotions even still have my soul but I'm not human," Xander explained gently sitting on the couch beside Willow and putting his arm across her shoulders and pulling her close as her emotions broke free with a sob, which was followed immediately by another and in moments she was crying full force.

Giles felt like his own heart was breaking as he watched Willow break down to be comforted by Xander. The reality that the younger man had died, died saving them and the world from Jack O'Toole, and come back as a whitelighter was hard to bear and made him want to scream, to cry himself and wishing O'Toole hadn't been eaten by Wolf-Oz – Buffy had filled him in on Jack's fate though neither of them had told Willow or Oz as they hadn't wanted to upset them – so he could tear the bastard apart with his own two hands. But with the legendary self-control of the British, the tradition often referred to as the stiff upper lip, he clamped down on his own emotions as Xander looked up at him, there would be time for him to deal with his own emotions later.

"Call Buffy Giles get her and Faith over here, they need to hear this as well," Xander said softly while massaging Willow's back.

Giles nodded and moved for the phone while Xander turned his full attention back to the hysterically sobbing Willow. "Sshh its alright I'm here, Willow," he said softly rocking her, "I'm still me, still here for you and I always will be."

"B…b…but…"

"No buts I'm here," Xander answered softly continuing to comfort his distraught friend. "And I always will be for as long as you need me and want me to be."

Willow nodded feeling comforted and reassured by the words, words that she somehow knew to be the complete and total truth. Whitelighter or not, dead or not-quite dead but in a non-demonic, non-vampiric sense, Xander was still Xander. And he would always be there for her just like he had been since they were little kids and she asked to borrow his crayon.

Slowly she began to calm down, grief at the knowledge that Xander had died but at the same time not died becoming a whitelighter – whatever that actually meant as there had to be more to it than simply being a guardian angel of sorts – fading into the background for now. Replacing it was a deep, deep exhaustion that her slumping against Xander as he continued to offer her quiet support and the comfort that despite everything he was still here, still with her. She became so lost in the offered support that she didn't even notice Giles return from calling everyone and sit down opposite the two of them.

"I'm okay now," Willow said after a couple more minutes pulling away from Xander.

"Are you sure?" Xander asked in concern while feeling more than a little guilty for having made Willow break down like that even though it had been unavoidable from the moment Giles realised what he was.

Willow took a deep shuddering breath. "Not really," she admitted, "you died Xander how can I be okay with that?"

"I see your point, but Willow we always knew it was a possibility that one or all of us could get killed. It's the price we pay, the danger we live with for the choice we both made three years ago."

"I… it just didn't seem real until now. I mean I lost Jesse I don't want to loose you as well."

"And you won't," Xander replied. "One of the benefits of being a whitelighter is I'm very difficult to injure let alone kill."

"He is right Willow," Giles agreed seeking to reassure the young redheaded witch. "The Council has encountered whitelighters a number of times down the centuries and has gathered quite a large body of information on them and their abilities. I can assure you that whitelighters are almost impossible to injure let alone destroy, only weapons specifically designed for them like darklighter poison arrows and certain extremely rare and dark demonic magic's can do so."

"So I'm not going to loose Xander."

"No your not," Xander replied with a reassuring smile. "You and Buffy are both my friends and my charges you're going to be stuck with me for quite sometime."

"I can live with that."

"I thought you might," Xander answered smiling back.

"Buffy should be hear soon, Giles do you mind if I use your bathroom to freshen up a bit," Willow asked.

"Of course you can," Giles replied guessing why Willow wanted to freshen up before Buffy arrived with Faith, she wanted to erase the signs that she'd been crying. "It's just down the hall second door on the left."

"Thanks," Willow said getting back to her feet and moving to go and freshen herself up before the two slayers arrived. Xander watched her go before leaning back on the couch.

"That was hard," he said.

"Sometimes necessary things are," Giles replied softly looking at the young whitelighter in sympathy. "I'm so sorry, Xander."

"What for," was the puzzled reply.

"For supporting Buffy when she said to keep you out of the battle with the Sisterhood of Jhe. If we hadn't pushed you away…"

"…you'd have all been dead now and demons would be coming through the permanently opened Hellmouth to overwhelm the planet," Xander interrupted with a surprising firmness. "Yeah I was pissed at you at the time but I don't regret what happened afterwards."

"Even your own death?"

"I'm still alive Giles, I may be a whitelighter but I am still very much alive, just not human anymore."

"That you are," Giles admitted with a smile. "Now before Buffy and Faith get here would you mind telling me why the Elders asked you to investigate Mayor Wilkins?"

"They didn't tell me much Giles."

"Tell me anyway."

Xander nodded and began telling the technically ex-Watcher everything that the Elders had told him or implied in their brief meeting days ago. Giles frowned worriedly as he explained how Wilkins was related to some situation developing here on the Hellmouth, something so major that the Elders had forgone normal whitelighter convention and not assigned Xander to a senior whitelighter for field training before sending him back to the exact moment of his human death. But they had been maddeningly silent on what the exact details of the threat Wilkins posed.

"I don't like the sound of this at all," Giles said as Xander finished speaking.

"I don't blame you G-Man in fact I don't mind telling you that I've got a really, really bad feeling about this."

"So have I Xander, so have I."

* * *

Authors Note: I admit I've been surprised at how this chapter just seemed to come together though the scenes when Willow found out that Xander is a whitelighter were really hard to write. I hope I got Willows reaction to the reality that Xander died and came back as a whitelighter right. As for how Buffy and Faith will react that's for the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

_**On Angels Wings**_

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters that I am about to play around with for my own amusement. They remain the property of their respective creators.

Authors Note: My thanks to Alkeni over on Twisting The Hellmouth for beta-reading this fic.

* * *

_**Chapter Two**_

Xander looked up from his quiet ongoing discussion with Giles when the sound of footsteps approaching caught his attention. To see Willow returning from the bathroom looking refreshed – having washed away the evidence that just minutes before she'd been crying on his shoulder over the fact that he wasn't human anymore – yet at the same time still somewhat shell shocked by the revelations that he had died and come back as a guardian angel of sorts. He couldn't really blame her and he couldn't help but feel guilty about having upset his oldest friend so badly even though it had been unavoidable as she would have found out about him being a whitelighter sooner or later.

"Feeling better?" he asked softly as Willow sat back down beside him.

"A little," Willow admitted, "I don't think it's really sunk in yet, that you're a…"

"…whitelighter? It does take a bit of getting used to," Xander replied with an understanding smile as in some ways he was still getting used to it himself. "But the important part to really remember is despite the fact that I'm not human, and despite the fact that I have only just begun to explore and understand my abilities, I'm still me. Still the same Xander you've known since we were five."

Willow nodded but decided to change the topic slightly as she would need time to really come to terms with what Xander was now. "Giles did Buffy give you any idea when she'd get here," she asked.

"She said she would be over as soon as she can find Faith," Giles replied. "She's probably asleep but I'm not sure where Faith stays so I couldn't direct Buffy there."

Xander frowned. "You don't know where Faith's staying," he asked surprised and more than a little concerned that Giles didn't appear to know where the dark haired, firebrand Slayer was staying. Giles looked a little embarrassed even as he shook his head in a negative. "She's staying at Sunnydale Motor Lodge."

"Good lord," Giles replied in a mixture of alarm and concern knowing that places like motor lodge chalets and hotel rooms were exempt from the normal mystical access rules as they were places of temporary residence only. Vampires could barge into any room or chalet in such places without an invite as the barriers that would normally keep them out of a persons home were extremely weak to the point of being virtually non-existent. Combined with the generally seedy reputation the motor lodge had it was not a safe place for any young woman to be staying alone for a long period of time, even if they were a Vampire Slayer.

"I know the motor lodge has a sleazy reputation but is it really that bad a place to stay," Willow asked confused as she looked back and forth between them wondering why they both seemed so concerned about where Faith was staying.

"It is but not because of anything the management has or hasn't done but because the motor lodge chalets like hotel rooms are largely exempt from the mystical rules that prevent vampires from entering without permission," Giles explained "as it's a place of temporary occupancy the wards that would normally stop a vampire cold on the threshold are so weak that they might as well not be present at all."

"You mean vampires can barge in whenever they feel like it," Willow asked horrified at the thought and also realising whenever her parents went away to one of their frequent conferences and seminars how frighteningly vulnerable they were to vamp attack.

"Exactly which is why most field watchers have an amulet to counter the effect issued to them before they head out on a journey," Giles replied grimly "thank you for telling me about Faith's living conditions, Xander. I will have to do something about them or recommend that whoever Faith's new Watcher is does something about it whenever he or she arrives. Even a Slayer needs a place where she can relax and unwind, having to be constantly alert in the way that Faith must in her current lodgings is not a good thing. Though I am curious how long have you known?"

"Only a few days," Xander admitted, "I found out the same day that the Sisterhood of Jhe tried to open the Hellmouth. I didn't tell you because well I thought you'd known before hand Giles considering you were acting as a temporary Watcher for Faith. Plus I have had a few other things on my mind."

"I should have known," Giles replied mentally kicking himself for what was an unforgivable oversight and dereliction of his duty of care as a Watcher – even on a temporary basis – for not realising the circumstances the younger slayer was living in and the danger she would be constantly in. It was no wonder that Faith was always so highly strung and prone to excessive violence, she had nowhere safe to call home, nowhere where she could sit back and relax and not have to worry about a vampire barging in looking for an easy meal. For anyone it was not a good situation to be in, let alone someone like Faith who gazed into the darkness every night. Silently he vowed that he would do something about the situation as soon as he was able to – even if he had to offer to allow Faith to stay here with him as he did have a spare bedroom.

"I think we're all at fault somewhat Giles," Xander said softly as he watched Giles mentally beating himself up, "none of us have really been paying Faith the attention she's really needed. We've not exactly been fair to her."

"What do you mean," Willow asked frowning at him.

"I mean we've treated Faith almost exactly the same way we treat Buffy and that is not fair to Faith," Xander told her, "she's a completely different person to Buffy and unlike her doesn't have a loving family background and has known only hardship and heartache her entire life and she's never really had anyone there for her until she met her first Watcher – certainly not like how you and Jesse were always there for me whenever my folks were at their alcoholic worst," he sighed softly as a thought occurred to him, "I'm going to have to go."

"Go where," Willow demanded.

"To see the Elders," Xander answered, "I'm going to see if I can get them to agree to me taking Faith on as another charge alongside you and Buffy. If anyone needs a whitelighter to be there for her then Faith does."

"Do you think they would agree to it," Giles asked frowning thoughtfully. A whitelighter being assigned to Faith could be of great help to the troubled dark haired teen as it would mean there would be someone there for her, someone she could talk to whenever she needed to. And if that whitelighter was Xander then so much the better as to tell the truth Xander did have a very similar background to Faith having lived with abusive alcoholic parents and would thus be far more likely to understand what made her tick than anyone else. With such a background it was a miracle that Xander was the person he was and not someone as bad as or worse than his parents.

"I don't know but we don't loose anything by me going to ask," Xander answered, "I'll go and ask them now if you want."

"But what about telling Buffy about the mayor and about you being a… you know," Willow protested.

"I can deal with that," Giles replied, "I know quite a bit about whitelighters, as I said before the Council has encountered Xander's kind more than a few times over the centuries, I can answer any questions on that issue that Buffy and Faith might ask. Plus it might be a good idea if Xander isn't here when we tell them that way we don't risk Buffy or Faith trying to slay him before we can explain to them that he's not a demon masquerading as Xander or hasn't been turned into some new sunlight-proof breed of vampire. They'd fail to hurt him but it would still be something to avoid if at all possible."

Willow bit her lip slightly while Xander looked at Giles. "Are you sure you're alright with me leaving for a little bit," he asked.

"I'm sure go on; this is too important leave telling Buffy and Faith about both the mayor and you to me."

"Alright," Xander replied standing up before looking at Willow, "I won't be long Wills and watch closely I think you'll like this," he added the last part with a knowing smile before concentrating on going to see the Elders and orbing out.

"Whoa," Willow breathed as before her eyes Xander was enveloped by a light blue aura before dissolving into a cloud of hundreds of glittering orbs of white-blue light that surged upwards like water and vanished through the ceiling the effect accompanied by a sound that was both musical and ethereal. "What was that?"

"It's called orbing and it's a kind of magical teleportation its one of the basic powers of a whitelighter," Giles explained to the astonished looking redheaded witch who he could tell was building up a whole barrage of questions to ask him on the issue. Thankfully he was saved from the verbal onslaught by the sound of the doorbell. _I'll have to warn Xander that Willow is going to pester him with questions about his abilities,_ he thought with a mental smile as he got up and answered the door.

"Hey Giles," Buffy said in greeting as he opened the door to see both Slayers standing on his porch both looking more than a little puzzled at being called in the middle of a warm Saturday afternoon. "What's up?" the blonde asked as Giles stepped aside and allowed them access to his abode.

"Something very serious Buffy," Giles replied as he closed the door and led the two Slayers into the living room where Willow was waiting. Seeing Willow Buffy frowned and looked around as she'd seen Xander's car outside but there didn't appear to be any sign of Xander being here.

"Hi Willow, is Xander here I saw his car outside?" Buffy asked.

"Xander had to go and see to an important issue," Giles explained as he gestured for the two slayers to sit down, "he'll return shortly."

"Oh," Buffy replied guessing that Xander was walking to wherever he had to go and they'd simply missed him. "So what was with calling us?"

"Yeah what's the problem," Faith asked a little irritated at having been called since she'd just been sitting down to something to eat at the local McDonalds when Buffy had found her and told her that Giles needed to see them a.s.a.p. She wondered if another apocalypse was brewing as they'd only just finished dealing with the last one, this was after all the Hellmouth the demons and other nasties were always up to something.

After a moments thought she decided she didn't mind if there was another apocalypse looming. It would give her an excuse to slay more of the things that went 'grr' in the night. Something that never ceased to give her a warm feeling inside as after so long being helpless, being a victim to suddenly have the power of a Slayer and born to fight was glorious. Yet strangely Buffy never seemed to quite see it that way as the older Slayer seemed to regard her abilities more as a curse than the gift they were, a fact that never ceased to puzzle the hell out of her. It had made her realise that for all of her impressive accomplishments since her calling Buffy was to put it mildly weird.

"Before I get down to explaining that there is something I need to tell you first, something about Xander that has a bearing both on our everyday lives and on what the problem facing us could really be," Giles said bringing the attention of both Slayers to him.

"Xander what about him is something wrong is he hurt?" Buffy asked in concern wondering if Xander had gone out on his own against the demons again still seeking to prove that he wasn't useless, wasn't someone to push aside when danger threatened. Something he had already proven to her when he'd fearlessly gone up against and faced down Jack O'Toole and his posse of walking dead before diffusing a bomb that would have blown her and the rest of the Scoobies off the face of the planet and ensure the permanent opening of the Hellmouth. _I will have to have some words with him,_ she thought feeling extraordinarily guilty that Xander apparently still felt he had to prove his worth, prove that he was not useless _tell him that he doesn't have to prove himself anymore._

"There is nothing wrong with him Buffy nor is he hurt. It's just, there is no easy way to say this so I'm just going to say it," Giles replied, "we've learned today, me and Willow that despite appearances Xander isn't human, not anymore."

"What!" Buffy squeaked echoed a moment later by Faith. "Is he," she swallowed nervously as she remembered how strange Xander had felt to her the last time she'd touched him, she'd put it down to exhaustion but was there more to it? Had the reaction of the slayer spirit inside of her been trying to tell her something about Xander? "Is he a demon?"

"No and nor is he a new sunlight-proof form of vampire," Giles answered anticipating her next question "in fact he's as far from being demonic as it is possible to be."

"Then what…"

"He's a whitelighter."

Buffy frowned. "What's a whitelighter," she asked.

"A whitelighter is basically a kind of guardian angel Buffy, a whitelighter is someone who's died and been given a new life by a group of higher level light beings called the Elders…"

"Wait, wait boy toy's dead," a shocked, disbelieving Faith interrupted dark eyes wide as she stared at the Watcher.

"Dead and come back to life just not as a human. Though in everyway that matters, Xander is still Xander, still has his soul and everything he's just not human now."

"H…h…how, when did he d…die," Buffy stammered feeling like someone had just punched her hard in the stomach and she was glad she was sitting down as if she'd been standing up she was sure she would have collapsed to her knees. Xander was _dead_ she'd always feared that something would happen to Willow or Xander as a result of them being involved in the slaying. It was why she'd tried a few times to push them both out of slaying with her though they were quite welcome to help with research – though Willow had become increasingly useful in the field in the last few months as her skills with magic improved she'd still worried about her getting hurt.

"Very recently as in a few days ago," Giles explained a sympathetic look on his face, "apparently Jack O'Toole didn't take kindly to Xander stopping him and his pals from blowing up the High School on commission from the Sisterhood of Jhe. Apparently after Xander defeated the others and intimidated Jack into deactivating the bomb Jack strangled him to death."

"But I saw Xander just after that he was fine," Buffy exclaimed in shock while also seething that Jack would do such a thing, it was fortunate for him that the zombie was already destroyed eaten by Wolf-Oz otherwise she would have permanently ended his undead life and she would not have been quick about doing it.

"He was already a whitelighter by then Buffy. The Elders after changing him into one apparently sent him back to us at the exact moment of his death but not before giving him some basic information on how to control his basic whitelighter abilities. They also made a request of him, a request that Xander carried out this morning which leads to the reason why I asked you both to come here."

"So that's what it was," Buffy muttered recalling how Xander had felt well different when she'd put her hand on his shoulder as he disconnected the bomb from the fuel oil drum Jack and his cohorts had lashed it to how the slayer spirit within her had gone quiet no longer compelling her to find and kill creatures of darkness. At the time she'd thought it was because of exhaustion but now it was clear that she had somehow on some fundamental, instinctual level realised what Xander was.

"What what was B," Faith asked confused even as she continued to try and wrap her head around the fact that Xander wasn't a human anymore. The fact that someone undead lowlife had killed him enraged her no end and she vowed silently to find Jack O'Toole and teach the sentient zombie why it was not a good idea to mess with a Slayer's friends right before she ended him and she was sure B would gladly help her. Yet at the same time she was relieved that Xander was still with them just that he was now an angel of sorts, she couldn't help but think it suited him given the hero complex he seemed to have.

"When I found Xander in the boiler room he felt different, made the Slayer in me go quiet in away that nothing has ever done when I touched him. I thought I was just imagining things after the fight with the Sisterhood and the Hellmouth beast but now I must have sensed that he was this whitetorcher thing."

"Whitelighter not whitetorcher Buffy," Willow said speaking for the first time with a chuckle at Buffy's predictable mangling of the English language.

"Whatever so what did these Elders want Xander to do? What wiggy thing has he discovered that we need to deal with?"

"Something very worrying especially as the Elders indicated that it is a very severe threat to the safety of the world," Giles admitted before beginning to explain about Mayor Wilkins and how he'd apparently lived and been the mayor of Sunnydale since the towns founding a hundred years ago.

"How could someone live that long," Buffy demanded "is he a vampire or a demon?"

"No he is not a vampire nor is he likely to be a demon," Giles replied.

"A warlock," Faith suggested recalling some of the things that Laura had taught her during the time between her becoming a Slayer after the death of Kendra at the hands of Drusilla and Laura's own torturous death at the cloven hands of Kakistos. She felt an inward stab of pain at the knowledge of what had happened to Laura, she'd been the first person to be genuinely decent to her and a vampire had taken her away, something she would always hate them for.

"That would be my best guess Faith."

"But Laura told me that while warlocks are undeniably evil they don't live much longer than normal people no matter how many powers they steal."

"Warlocks steal powers?" Willow asked shocked and horrified that anyone would do such a monstrous thing.

"Yes they do Willow," Giles replied grimly, "warlocks are corrupted magic users who are gain their powers by stealing them from a witch be they natural born like Amy was before her transformation into a rat or a practitioner like yourself killing the witch in the process," seeing the redhead about to ask a question he pre-empted her "I'll explain the difference later, Willow. But you are right Faith normally warlocks don't live much longer than the normal people they appear to be however every now and again you will get one who makes a deal with dark forces to gain a longer life."

"So what does he want," Buffy asked concerned.

"I do not know," Giles replied, "though I very much doubt it is simply immortality as while it would make him potentially extremely powerful and undeniably dangerous it would not make him an apocalypse level threat which is what the Elders implied he is to Xander. What the threat is though they did not tell him either because they do not know themselves because of mystical interference from the Hellmouth or because they want us to work it out on our own."

"So research time," Willow asked eyes practically glowing at the thought of doing research while inwardly Buffy groaned. Unlike the redhead she absolutely hated doing research though she understood why it was necessary as you couldn't always take down the Big Bad with a stake or a sword – though it made things so much easier when you could – sometimes they needed a very specific thing to vanquish them. A glance at Faith showed her sister Slayer felt the same way about research though like her Faith would confess that it did have its uses.

"Research time," Giles agreed, "once Xander returns I will get my keys and we can go over to the school library to begin our work."

"Where did he go anyway," Buffy asked curious but before Giles could answer an ethereal, musical tone filled the air and a stream of shining white-blue orbs came through the ceiling and coalesced into a cloud that in an instant transformed into the very person she'd just been asking about. Before she even realised it she was on her feet and moving over to Xander as the blue glow around him vanished as he finished materialising. She immediately pulled him into a hug and buried her head in his shoulder, as before she immediately felt the slayer spirit within her react to the contact. Felt the ever present urge to hunt down and kill the vampires and other creatures of the night fade almost to nothing as the spirit relaxed in the waves of peace and serenity that seemed to come from Xander.

To say Xander was startled to be pulled into a hug by Buffy the moment he finished materialising was an understatement. The hug tightened and he faintly heard Buffy sniffling slightly against his shoulder, clearly Giles had done what he'd said he was going to do and told Buffy and Faith about him. With no idea what to do, what to say now he returned the hug putting his arms around Buffy for a few moments until the Slayer pulled back…

…and promptly slapped him around the back of the head.

"Ouch what was that for," he asked reaching up and rubbing where she'd hit him.

"For getting yourself killed you big idiot," Buffy replied scowling at the taller teen. "Damn it Xander you should have called for backup."

"Why you wouldn't have listened and even if you had you and Faith were both needed to stop the Sisterhood opening up the Hellmouth," Xander answered making Buffy wince at the suggestion that she wouldn't have listened to him, a suggestion that she guilty acknowledged had a very strong basis in fact. "I don't regret my actions one bit and while the dying thing was a bit of a bummer I still choose to come back and help you."

"You choose to be a whitetorcher."

Xander smirked. "Whitelighter," he corrected with a chuckle, "and yes it was my choice. When I died the Elders appeared and offered me a choice. Continue on the heavenly realms or be sent back to Earth as a whitelighter, while the former was tempting I just couldn't walk away so I agreed and here I am. And I'm charged with looking after and helping you, Willow and now Faith as well."

"The Elders agreed then," Giles said.

"They did though they were shocked to learn that Faith is a Slayer," Xander replied before frowning, "they also had no knowledge that Kendra was the Slayer before Faith. Apparently the Powers That Be never told the Elders about happened in the Masters cave, something they were not pleased to learn when I told them." He shook his head. "Politics happens even with higher beings apparently."

"So boy toy what do you mean by me being a charge of yours," Faith asked still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Xander wasn't human anymore. She got concurring nods from Willow and Buffy as they'd both been wondering what Xander meant by charges.

"It means I've been assigned to assist you," Xander explained, "I'm to provide guidance and support when Watchers cannot as no offence Giles but the Watchers Council doesn't know everything."

"None taken," Giles replied smiling as unlike some Watchers he didn't pretend that the Council knew everything there was to know about the various supernatural worlds and beings. Though they had been around for a great many centuries they had barely scratched the surface of what was out there, it was one of the reasons why all field Watchers – like he technically no longer was – kept official diaries which were turned over to the Council for inclusion in the achieves upon death.

"I can also provide guidance on magic," Xander continued when he saw Willow smile and her eyes light up, "and heal any injuries that are sustained even if they would otherwise be fatal. The one thing I cannot do however is fight demons for you, though I have been granted a bit more leeway than most whitelighters the Elders have made it clear that I'm not to fight except in extreme situations and only ever to defend myself or my charges and each time I would have to justify it to the Elders. That doesn't mean however that I cannot help train you in how to deal with demons that use more active combat methods."

"So you can't patrol anymore," Buffy asked.

"No I can't," Xander admitted sounding a little annoyed but accepting of the reality of the rules that he was now bound to follow, "but if anyone gets hurt you just have to call for me and I'll orb right to you."

"What did you mean by active combat methods," Faith asked.

"What he means is not all demons use brute force in the way vampires and most of the demons you've both encountered here on the Hellmouth," Giles explained. "There are some kinds of demons that use magic either to grant wishes – like in the case of vengeance demons like what Anya used to be – or have magic based combat powers."

"Such as," Buffy asked frowning as she hated coming up against demons that cheated and used magic. Though thankfully they seemed to be few and quite far between at least in her experience as they could be a right pain in the ass to deal with.

"Fireballs, occasionally plasma balls and most commonly energy balls," Giles answered, "all of which are extremely deadly if they strike you, however if you are fast and agile enough you can dodge them and if skilled enough in magic yourself can deflect them back. But we have wandered off topic we need to get back to figuring out just what Mayor Wilkins is and why the Elders believe him to be such a threat to the world."

"Sorry Giles," Buffy replied looking sheepishly at her Watcher. "We best head to the library then."

"Indeed. I'll just get my set of keys then we'll head over and begin our investigation."

"Joy," Faith muttered not looking forward to spending hours pouring through books trying to find out exactly what Wilkins could be up to. "Hey why don't you guys start on the research while me and B head over to Willie's bar."

"That's a good idea," Buffy agreed smiling at her sister-in-arms, it would be more fun getting information out of Willie than wading through books and tomes. After all if there was something bad going down in Sunnydale then Willie tended to know about it from one of the many vamps, demons and general lowlife scum who frequented his bar.

"It is," Giles agreed after a moment even as he retrieved his set of keys to the school from a drawer, "very well go but for goodness sakes be discrete about it. Whatever he is up to we don't want to tip Wilkins off that we might be onto him."

"We're always discrete come on B," Faith replied getting up and heading for the door. Buffy followed and in moments the two Slayers had disappeared out into the sun drenched streets of Sunnydale. Giles sighed and shook his head muttering under his breath about the dubious ideal of discretion and subtlety subscribed to by Slayers and how it was different to how everyone else on the planet would describe said terms.

"We should go ourselves Giles," Xander pointed out breaking the silence that had fallen on the premises. "Come on I'll drive us there."

"Then lead on."

Xander nodded and began leading the way out of the house, retrieving his own keys from the pocket of his jeans. Giles and Willow followed all of them hoping their search would not be in vain and that they would discover just what Mayor Richard Wilkins was really up to here in Sunnydale. Once they knew they would be able to begin working out a plan of action to stop him though none of them believed stopping him would be in anyway easy as nothing apocalypse worthy ever was though they knew they had to try as there was nothing else to do.

Nothing

* * *

Authors Note: Well that's chapter two done, next chapter will move into the events of Bad Girls and the first appearance of Wesley. I know it seems like Buffy and Faith accepted the reality of Xander being a whitelighter too easily but they've not really had time to think about it, its not had time to really settle in on them as Giles gave them something else to think about and focus on i.e. the issue of Mayor Wilkins longer than normal life. I have some thoughts on how to have Buffy and Faith react when its all had time to settle in next chapter.

Before anyone says anything in reviews I know I have other fics to work on and I am right now working on new updates for other fics - I haven't forgotten about them people so don't nag in reviews.


	3. Chapter 3

_**On Angels Wings**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they remain the property of their respective creators.**

**Authors Note: My thanks to Alkeni over on twisting the hellmouth for beta reading this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Mayor Richard Wilkins looked up from the mountain of paperwork on his desk as the sound of someone knocking echoed through his office. On one hand he was puzzled by the interruption as he had no appointments scheduled this evening but on the other he was relieved to have the distraction. The amount of paperwork that came with being mayor these days was truly staggering, more than once he'd wondering if it was actually possible for someone to die buried under a mountain of paperwork. Thankfully it wouldn't be too much of a chore to endure for much longer.

"Come in," he called. The door opened and Deputy Mayor Allan Finch poked his head in. "Yes Alan what is it?"

"We might have a problem sir," Allan said stepping into the room. "I was just contacted by on of our contacts he was in The Alibi Room yesterday afternoon when something happened that we both believe you should know."

Richard raised an eyebrow. "Go on," he continued.

"Apparently yesterday afternoon around three both Slayers paid a visit to the bar and thoroughly interrogated the bartender."

"Poor Willy got beat up again," Richard asked resisting the impulse to smirk at the mental image of the long suffering barkeep getting thrown against his own bar by the Slayers, "but that's the price you sometimes pay by being the guy everyone goes to for information. You would think the guy would have learned to mind his own business by now, but as my old mother used to say 'such is life'. So what did the Slayers want from him?"

Allan swallowed nervously knowing the mayor wasn't going to like what he had to say next. "Apparently they wanted information about you sir," he said.

"Me but why would they…" Richard started to say before his voice tapered off eyes widening in a mixture of surprise and concern. Had the Slayers somehow found out about his plans? "You mean they know about me?"

"I do not believe they are aware of your plans however they have somehow found out that you are a heavily influential figure in the supernatural community here in Sunnydale. They also seem to know that you're the only mayor the town has ever had."

Richard made an hmm noise and leaned back in his chair. How had the Slayers learned about his links to the supernatural community here in Sunnydale as well as the fact that he was over a hundred years old? How had they learned that? And if they knew about that were they aware of his Ascension plans? He'd known when he'd pulled strings to bring Buffy Summers to Sunnydale to deal with that situation with The Master that there was always a possibility that she would learn of his connection to the supernatural. At the time he had deemed it a risk worth taking as given the short life expectancy of a Slayer once Called he'd assumed that Buffy wouldn't be around long enough to possibly interfere with his plans.

Unfortunately fate or those annoying interfering busy bodies who called themselves the Powers That Be had had other plans. Buffy had not only survived for far longer than was the norm for a Slayer, indeed if he'd gotten his math right she was the longest living chosen one generations, but she and her Watcher had broken with the normal one Watcher/one Slayer convention. Instead they'd built up their own little team of helpers. A network that had enabled Buffy to escape a prophesised death at the hands of Nest, caused the Slayer line to fission – though quite how that had happened he still had absolutely no idea – and let her beat the crap out of demonic entities that should have effortlessly killed her. All those facts made the possibility that she could know what he was planning very uncomfortable to say the least. Though his dedication was only twenty four hours away after which she wouldn't be able to harm him for a hundred days it paid to be cautious. After all he hadn't lived this long, gotten this close to his goal by being careless.

"Okay here's what I want you to do Allan," he said at last. "Speak with Mister Trick, have him put together some surveillance teams to follower the Slayers and keep as close an eye on them as possible without giving themselves away."

"Yes sir," Allan replied inwardly grimacing at having to go and talk to Mr Trick about anything as he hated dealing with vampires at the best of times but Trick made him really nervous. Especially as the former acolyte of the dusted Kakistos had a habit of looking right at his jugular during discussions as if weighing up whether to feed off him or not, so far the fear of incurring the Mayor's wrath – and the excruciatingly painful death said warlock would have subjected him to – had prevented it but he was under no illusions about Trick's intentions towards him. Intentions that coupled with Wilkins ascension plans and the general levels of supernatural nastiness in town made him increasingly wonder what the hell he'd been thinking when he'd agreed to work for Richard Wilkins in the first place as his father and grandfather had before him.

"Is that all Allan?"

"Yes sir it is for now."

"Very well then go speak to Trick. Oh and remember to give my speech for tomorrow another check over would you? It wouldn't do for the pensioners to think I've forgotten their lifelong contributions to this town when I open that new care home would it."

"Of course sir," Allan replied before leaving the office and mentally sighing in relief at surviving yet another meeting with the warlock-turned-mayor. _I really need to look into getting out of this place, _he thought to himself before heading towards the basement and Trick's office to brief the vampire on what the mayor wanted from him.

~~/~~

As Allan left his office Richard stood up rounded his desk and moved to the window. For a few moments he stood there gazing out at the town that he'd carefully built over the last century, all of it in preparation for his destiny of becoming an Old One. A destiny that could now possibly be under threat from the Slayers and their posse something that was unacceptable to say the very least, he had worked too hard, for too long and too carefully to let anything stop him now. He would trust that Trick would assemble some trustworthy associates to watch the Slayers without giving themselves away but their was always the possibility that they'd be spotted – especially as Trick wasn't always the subtlest being in world but then vampires were true predators, subtlety was not something generally included in their vocabulary.

Thus it would be a good idea to have a backup plan or two in place and he knew just who to call to arrange it, the guy owed him a few favours after all and now was as good a time as any to collect. Smiling he returned to his desk, took his address book from a drawer and began flicking through soon finding the number that he wanted.

The number for Cole Turner

~~/~~

**Elsewhere In Sunnydale**

**That Same Time**

It was small.

That was Faith Lehane's first thought as she gazed around the apartment that Giles had just brought her too. Despite the lack of any furniture Faith could tell that it wouldn't exactly be a spacious place to live, still despite being small she imagined it would be cosy. She had been more than a little surprised when the technically ex-Watcher had asked her to meet him here, her surprise had only grown when she'd found Giles standing with a set of apartment keys and with a realtor standing not far away just far enough to give them some privacy.

"So what do you think, Faith?" Giles asked.

"Its cosy," the dark haired Slayer answered before looking at him with a puzzled frown "G why are you showing me this?"

"Because if you like it then this place will be your new home," Giles replied with a warm smile.

Faith gaped. "You… you would buy this place for me," she asked her mind reeling as she didn't know what to think. She had to admit the idea of having her own place where she could just crash at the end of a long night of slaying vamps and pummelling demons had a certain appeal. The fact that Giles was willing to get her such a place was more than a little humbling. It reminded her of what Laura had done for her, getting her out of the foster home she'd been in and letting her stay in her own apartment in Boston. An apartment that had been just starting to feel like home when Kakistos and his minions interfered and tortured Laura to death right in front of her helpless eyes.

"Of course I would."

"Why?"

"Because you need somewhere to live Faith, somewhere that's not a run down chalet in a motel renowned for its sleazy nature." Faith blinked wondering how the ex-Watcher knew where she lived as she hadn't told him and she knew B wouldn't have as she was always so focused on her undead boyfriend. _Maybe boy toy did it,_ she thought recalling Xander knew where she lived and had even been in her room when they'd had that little throw down session. Of course back then Xander had still been human and not the supernatural angel-thing that he was now and boy was that still downright freaky to think about.

"But I'm fine where I am," she protested after a few more moments of thinking about it.

"Are you really," the Watcher asked training firm eyes on her. "Let me ask you this then Faith how many vampires have you had to kill in the last week when they've barged in on you looking for a free meal." Faith hesitated to answer "how many?"

"I'm not sure seven, eight maybe nine," she admitted after a moment buckling under the firm gaze of the Watcher and realising not for the first time since coming to the Hellmouth just how intimidating Giles could be when he wanted to be. "I really don't understand how they can get in like that and while I do like the practice it gets kind of annoying when I want to have a shower or something."

"They can get in because a motor lodge chalet like a hotel room is a place of temporary occupancy only," Giles explained taking off his glasses and polishing them. "Thus they're exempt from the normal mystical rules that prevent a vampire from entering someone's home without an invitation. Where you're living now the wards are so weak that they might as well not exist at all as even a starving fledgling can penetrate them with ease."

"Shit I never knew that."

"Now you do so what do you say about this place? Do you want it?" Faith paused, thought a bit for a moment before nodding, though it would be a few days before she could move in as she'd have to raid a few vamp nests to get some cash to buy furnishings. "Good I'll sort it out with the realtor. Take another look around if you want to while I discuss it outside."

"Okay and G thanks."

"You're welcome Faith."

As Giles left to go and speak to the realtor outside Faith began to move around the small one-bed again eyes searching out places where she could stow things like her weapons where they wouldn't attract attention. She heard the door close as Giles left and paused in her inspection and decided to test her theory that Xander had been the one to tell Giles about her current dismal living conditions.

"Xander," she called out remembering what Xander had said yesterday when he'd revealed what he was about them only having to call for him when they wanted to see or talk to him. A fact that was proven correct as a dense stream of white-blue orbs of light came through the wall before changing into the whitelighter. Despite having half expected it she still jumped as Xander finished materialising. "Damn it boy toy it's still so freaky when you do that," she exclaimed trying to recover from the shock of seeing someone she knew use a magical form of teleportation.

Xander smirked slightly. He had to admit he liked freaking the Slayers out when he abruptly orbed in somewhere, though of all the Scoobies so far only Willow seemed to have come somewhat to terms with what he was now. At least she had if the questions about his powers she'd been pestering him with on and off since midday yesterday was anything to go by, questions that he couldn't always answer as there was a lot about being a whitelighter that he didn't know yet. "Sorry Faith," he replied.

"Your not though are you boy toy?"

"Nope," Xander replied with that familiar cheeky grin of his firmly in place. Faith shook her head slightly failing to resist the impulse to smile at the response as well as feeling a bit more relaxed with the reality of Xander being a whitelighter. He might not be human anymore but he was clearly still the same old Xander. "So what was with the holler," he asked breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Um," Faith started to say her mind going blank for a few moments before she remembered. "Is this you're doing?"

"Is what my doing," Xander asked though he had a very good idea what it was Faith was asking. The fact that they were standing in one of the newest starter apartments in town – albeit one that was unfurnished at this time – was kind of a dead giveaway.

"You know what I mean. Did you tell G about me living at the motor lodge?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I was worried about you," Xander admitted, "first and foremost you're my friend Faith and I wasn't about to let you continue to suffer in silence at the motor lodge as you know that place isn't safe. You needed a place to call your own, somewhere where you could sit back and relax and not have to worry about a vamp barging in looking for lunch while you're in the shower or something.

"I admit though I am surprised how quickly Giles has been able to rustle up this place that is if you're going to move in."

"Damned right I'm going to move in," Faith replied before startling Xander by jumping forward and pulling him into an embrace. "You're the first one since Laura to do something like this for me, thank you," she said softly burying her head in his chest and feeling the tears come as the pain of Laura's death the pain she'd been holding in refused to stay buried anymore. Why she didn't know but whatever the reason she found herself sobbing gently into Xander's chest.

"It's okay let it out," Xander said softly returning the embrace. Even a week ago he would have been inwardly gloating at having such a pretty girl in his arms but now he just offered the support that Faith seemed to both want and need. He wished he could do something to take away the pain that Faith was obviously feeling, pain that she'd buried for months, but there wasn't anything he could do beyond give support as his ability to heal didn't extend to emotional injuries.

After a few minutes Faith's sobs eased and she just relaxed in Xander's embrace, luxuriating in the way his presence seemed to make the violent impulses of the Slayer spirit within her calm. "Feeling better," Xander asked softly.

"Five by five," Faith replied pulling back and wiping around her eyes with one hand. "Sorry I didn't mean to fall apart like that."

"Nothing to be sorry about," Xander answered, "you maybe a Slayer but you're a human being at the same time. No one can be tough all the time."

"Buffy is."

"No she's not," Xander replied, "I've see Buffy break down and cry a few times. Being a Slayer doesn't make you any less human Faith and there is nothing wrong with admitting that you have feelings."

"He's right Faith," Giles added surprising both as neither the slayer nor the whitelighter had heard him come back in. "I know Buffy may seem to be on a pedestal sometimes," he continued as they turned to look at him, "and I will not deny she has been one of the best Slayers for sometime. But it's only because she has a support team, to help her when she needs it even if she doesn't know it at the time. If she was just on her own then she would have burned out long ago."

"He isn't wrong," Xander added, "we're here for you as well as Buffy. Me especially and not just because you're a charge, you're also my friend."

"Thanks," Faith said softly feeling genuinely touched by those words before looking over at Giles and changing the subject before she got all mushy. "So G how did it go with the realtor?"

"Almost all done," Giles replied, "I just need to go over to the realtor's office and fill in a bit of paperwork then this place is yours Faith. Don't worry you don't need to come down to the office; I'll bring you the keys later. Then we can sort out getting this place furnished."

"Okay," Faith answered, "I better go back to the motor lodge then. Got to freshen up and start preparing for a night of slayage."

"Well I can help you there at least with regards to getting back to your chalet," Xander replied grinning before smiling at Giles as he put a hand on Faith's shoulder. "See you back at the library G-Man."

Without waiting for a reply he orbed both himself and Faith out. Giles shook his head as the two teenagers disappeared in a flurry of blue-white orbs, as it was another demonstration of how much things had changed in the last few weeks and how he'd failed Xander during the whole thing with the Sisterhood of Jhe. If he'd only stood up for the young man with Buffy then maybe Xander wouldn't have had to face Jack O'Toole alone and ending up meeting his destiny to become a whitelighter as the Watchers Council knew enough about the Elders to know they would have been watching Xander for a long time, waiting for his death when they'd offer him the position of a whitelighter.

Mentally he shook himself and left the apartment to head down to the realtors office to fill in the necessary legal paperwork. It did no good to think about the past and what he should have done differently, it wouldn't change anything. Xander had died and they were lucky that the Elders had let him come back to the Hellmouth to be Buffy, Willow and Faith's whitelighter. Instead he should focus on the here and now and the meeting with the realtor. _Honestly the things I sometimes have to do for a charge,_ he thought with a smile as he headed back to his car.

* * *

**Faith's Chalet**

**Sunnydale Motor Lodge**

The moment she finished materialising Faith stumbled and almost threw up as the sensation of orbing was incredibly disorientating, especially as she hadn't been expecting it. "X next time can I have a bit of warning before you do that please," she complained as she fought to keep her lunch in her stomach.

"Sorry are you alright?"

"Aside from feeling like I want to hurl yeah."

"The nausea passes quickly," Xander assured her, "after a few more orbs it won't bother you at all anymore." Faith made a face at the thought of Xander orbing her around a few more times until the nausea it caused passed. While she would admit it was a quick and convenient way to get around especially in an emergency she wouldn't want to experience it too often.

"No offence boy toy but I'd prefer to walk everywhere," she said, "orbing is just a bit too uncomfortable for my taste unless it's important."

"Okay no orbing you anywhere unless it's an emergency got it," Xander replied mentally rolling his eyes at Faith's reluctance to be orbed anywhere. While he still had an awful lot to learn about being a whitelighter he'd already decided that of all his powers the ability to orb was undeniably the coolest ability. Who wouldn't find the ability to instantaneously teleport yourself and up to seven hundred pounds of additional mass across vast distances really cool. _Faith Lahane apparently,_ he thought shaking his head so to speak in the privacy of his own mind as he knew better than to say it aloud – not if didn't want to get a Slayer-powered elbow to the ribs that was.

"And don't forget it," Faith said smirking at the teen-turned-angel. "Now off with you, I want to have half hours kip and a shower before heading out for a night of slayage with B. Unless of course you fancy another quick tumble?" she added the last part with a flirting smirk.

"And let you toss me into the street in my underpants again? No thanks," Xander replied smirking, "besides I don't think a whitelighter is supposed to sleep with his or her charges."

"Spoilsport," Faith answered putting on her best disappointed pout only for Xander to ignore it.

"Sorry Faith that don't work its got nothing on Willow's resolve face."

"Damn I'll have to ask her for instructions."

Xander chuckled slightly at the mental image of Faith trying to learn the secrets of the resolve face from Willow. Secrets the redheaded witch wouldn't want to give up without a major fight as it was the only real way she had – short of using magic which never seemed to work quite right on him – of making him do what she wanted.

"Good luck," he said, "Willow won't part with those secrets easily."

"I like a challenge."

"I think you'll find it's an impossible one. I'll leave you to rest and freshen up for tonight's patrol. Just remember if anything happens, if you get hurt or anything just call for me and I'll be there in the flick of an orb."

"Don't worry I won't forget."

"See you later," Xander orbing out as he finished speaking leaving Faith alone. Immediately she moved over to the curtains and closed them, before slipping off her shoes and lying on the uncomfortable motel bed that she wouldn't have to endure much longer thanks to the efforts of Xander and Giles. In truth she couldn't wait to be in the position to move into the apartment and start turning it into a home of her own. She would just have to furnish the apartment first and she didn't doubt she'd be able to get Buffy's help in finding furniture as a style guru she was not, certainly not in the way that Buffy was. After a few moments she put those thoughts out of her head and closed her eyes before drifting into a sleep that for the first time since coming to Sunnydale weren't dominated by nightmares of Laura's death at the hands of Kakistos.

* * *

**Authors Note: For my fellow Brits who might not know what a realtor is it's the American equivalent of an estate agent, thought I'd best point that out. I know people were expecting to see Wesley in this chapter but I ultimately decided not to include him this time, he'll appear next time as my main goal in this chapter was to start showing the ripple effect Xander being a whitelighter is having on everyone and everything in Sunnydale.**


	4. Chapter 4

_**On Angels Wings**_

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own the characters that I am about to mangle around with for my own purposes. Buffy and Charmed remain the property of their respective creators I am merely borrowing them.**

**Authors Note: Sorry about the huge delay with the update for this story but I've had to wrestle with the demon of writers block. My thanks to Alkeni for the beta.**

* * *

_**Chapter Four**_

**Watchers Council**

**London, England**

**A Few Hours Later**

Quentin Travers frowned in concern as he read through the latest report from the group of Seers employed by the Watchers Council. It appeared a new darkness was rising on the active Hellmouth, though at present the seers weren't able to provide any information on the nature of the threat. But such was the nature of the Seer's gift sometimes it could provide very detailed and helpful information on the nature of a threat and a hint of the steps needed to contain and eliminate the problem. At other times – like now – it could be maddeningly vague as an evil rising on the active Hellmouth aka Sunnydale wasn't anything new which made the latest visions very unhelpful.

Not for the first time he regretted the necessity of having to fire Rupert Giles as a Watcher – an action that caused him no end of problems from the man's family and from some other modernisation inclined Watcher families – as if the man had still been in the Council's employ he could have phoned him and asked if the Slayers had noticed anything unusual in Sunnydale. Anything that could explain the Seers visions. But that route was now closed to him as Giles was no longer a Watcher after developing inappropriate feelings of closeness for his Slayer and refusing to honour the ancient traditions of the Council particularly the ancient rite of passage that was the cruciamentum. While a new Watcher was on the way to the Hellmouth he doubted Wyndham-Price would be able to get him any answers quickly as both Ms Summers and Ms Lehane weren't proper Council-trained Slayers and thus far more independent and wilful than most Slayers were and thus would take time to 'warm up' to the new Watcher so to speak.

A strange ethereal tinkling sound from the direction of the outer office caught his attention prompting him to look up with a puzzled frown. _What the devil is that,_ he thought as he'd never heard a sound like that before now not even when he'd done his own stint as a field Watcher back in the sixties. A moment later his desk intercom buzzed for attention. "Yes Ms Roberts," he asked stabbing a control.

"Mr Travers sir someone is here to see you," Ms Roberts replied his loyal secretary's voice was thick with a mixture of surprise and awe. "A whitelighter."

Travers eyes widened. Like all Watchers he knew what whitelighters were, one did not deal with the magical communities as often as they did and not know all about them. But why would one come to see him? Despite knowing what whitelighters were the Watchers Council generally didn't have much contact with them and through them the Elders. Indeed the last time they'd interacted it had been thirty years ago when the Council had attempted to take a potential Slayer who was also a born witch from her family for the proper training and education. The family of the girl in question had objected prompting the father's whitelighter to take the matter to the Elders who'd started putting pressure on the Council.

In the end the Council had wisely backed down on the issue and let the girl remain with her family as making an enemy of the Elders would have meant making enemies of a sizeable chunk of the worlds' light side magical communities including the Devon Coven. Something that would have been absolutely disastrous for the Council as the magic's they could call upon themselves were very limited and had been for centuries ever since a large volume of magic tomes had been lost when there first London headquarters was burned to the ground – along with much of the old Medieval city around it – during The Great Fire of 1666.

"Send him in," he ordered shaking off his moment of shock. "And Ms Roberts hold all my calls until my meeting is concluded."

"Yes sir."

As Ms Roberts signed off Quentin stood up and made his suit jacket presentable a moment before the office door opened and a tall well-built man who looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties – but was probably much older than that given whitelighters were a kind of angel and were thus essentially immortal – with brownish blond hair came in. To Quentin's surprise the whitelighter was wearing very casual clothing consisting of a pair of stonewash jeans, a white t-shirt with an open green and white checked shirt over the top a pair of white and blue trainers completed the ensemble. He would have expected him to be wearing robes or a formal suit not something as informal as what he was wearing.

"Mr Travers," the whitelighter asked offering a hand.

"Yes," Quentin confirmed accepting the offered hand and shaking it. "I must admit I am surprised you're here mister…"

"Wyatt, Leo Wyatt though you can call me Leo," the whitelighter answered. "Why are you surprised?"

"Well the last time we dealt with whitelighters at all it we didn't exactly get along that well," Quentin replied wondering not for the first time what the Council head at the time had been thinking. Even a staunch traditionalist like him knew that crossing swords with or doing something that could upset the Elders was an absolutely insane idea, even if it did involve a potential Slayer.

"An unfortunate episode," Leo replied diplomatically, he well remembered the incident in question. Though it didn't help that the Watchers Council had hardly changed its practices in regards to taking in Potentials either through agreement, bribery and occasionally direct force. They were just a lot more careful about it around the magical community these days, though according to the Elders own oracles the practice was going to come back to bite the Watchers in the ass eventually. Which would be the only thing that would get them to really change course with how they treated Slayers and potential Slayers. Well unless the so called modernisers got into a position to take control of the leadership of the Watchers Council away from the traditionalists that had ruled for the last few generations.

"That it was," Quentin agreed before gesturing to the seat opposite him. "Please take a seat. Can I get you anything to drink? Tea, coffee?"

"No thank you," Leo replied as he sat down he wanted to get this meeting over with so he could get back to Piper and her sisters. With the Elders finally consenting to him and Piper getting married the four of them were spending a lot more time together right now both getting to know each other more closely instead of just as whitelighter and charges and planning the wedding. Which wasn't easy what with all the demon attacks and evil plots the Charmed Ones had to face/foil on a nearly daily basis.

"So what can I do for you," Quentin asked seeing that the whitelighter wanted to get down to whatever business had brought him here.

"I've been sent here by the Elders with a request that they would like to make of the Watchers Council and you in particular," Leo explained. "The Elders have only recently become aware of the splitting of the Slayer line in two after the Powers That Be attempted to keep such vital information to themselves."

"I was not aware of that," Quentin replied with a frown wondering why on Earth the Powers That Be wouldn't have told the Elders about the splitting of the Slayer line. He himself was still not quite sure how it happened but knew that Slayer Summers friends – specifically one Alexander Harris – had had something to do with it. Somehow the boy had been able to do what had long been thought to be impossible and defied a prophecy, quite how he'd been able to do that they still didn't know as if he knew anything about it Rupert had kept it to himself during his official reports to the Council before his unfortunately necessary firing. "Why would they keep such information quiet?"

"We don't know," Leo replied though privately he suspected that the Powers That Be – or the Pricks That Be as Elders and whitelighters alike sometimes called them among other much less polite things – had been playing celestial politics as the Powers had long hated that the Elders knew about the Slayer. Knew and sometimes aided her even if doing so disrupted or destroyed the Powers obsessive plans for a balance between good and evil – a balance that the Elders regarded as being completely artificial and impossible to maintain for any length of time. It was the greatest – but not the only – source of friction between the two groups.

"I take it the Elders want some information on how the line came to split?" Quentin asked, "I'm afraid that they'll be disappointed as we have little to now information on exactly how it happened."

Leo smiled. "That's not what they were going to ask for no we already know what caused the Slayer line to split."

"I see," Quentin answered frowning but resisting the impulse to ask what the Elders knew as it was probable and even very likely that Leo himself didn't know. Whitelighters were after all only told what they needed to know at the time to protect and guide whatever charges the individual had. "If you are not here about the splitting of the Slayer line then what do your superiors want from us?"

"The Elders have recently become aware that the senior of the two current vampire slayers – a Buffy Summers I believe – is currently without the support of a Watcher."

"Yes Mister Giles unfortunately had to be dismissed for inappropriate conduct and insubordination. We have however allowed him to remain in Sunnydale to avoid alienating Ms Summers completely."

"The Elders request that he be reinstated as her Watcher," Leo replied not commenting on the 'inappropriate conduct' and 'insubordination' that Travers mentioned. From what the Elders had told him Giles had merely been a good Watcher and put the wellbeing of his Slayer first before the more cruel edicts of the Council. "A threat is building in Sunnydale the exact shape of which the Elders are not yet sure but which we already know has the potential to be very serious. Ms Summers will need the support of the Watcher she is most comfortable with in order to effectively deal with this problem."

Quentin frowned. "I'm afraid that's not possible. Mister Giles showed great insubordination to the Council and our traditions. There was no choice but to fire him."

"By traditions you mean the cruciamentum. The Elders were advised that that particular tradition had been discontinued in the late eighteenth century as needlessly cruel. Why has it been revived?"

"It is an ancient tradition that must be respected," Quentin answered, "it is a rite of passage that all Slayers above a certain age must pass through if they are to continue to be effective."

"That is not true and you know it as well as I Mister Travers," Leo replied. "But the cruciamentum's unacceptable revival is not why I am here, though I will tell you that the Elders are not pleased to learn it has been revived when even your Victorian predecessors considered it a cruel and unnecessary ritual."

Quentin hid a wince. That was not something he wanted or needed to hear. Though he would have thought the Elders would understand why traditions had to be respected. Especially traditions that revolved around the girl/weapon intrusted with the safety of the world. His grandfather had recognised the importance of the ritual when he'd been head of the Council and revived it, while also suppressing all information on its original discontinuation. Few among the Council even knew it had ever been discontinued in the past, so good had been his grandfather's wise stewardship of the Council. It was apparent though that was both not the case and in fact the Elders actively disapproved – which was not good news for him or the other traditionalists in the know and if the modernisers were to find out he mentally shuddered to think what would happen.

"I will have to speak with the rest of the Inner Council," he said after a few moments of tense silence. "It will be there decision if Mister Giles is fully reinstated or not, that will take some time to arrange as our members are scattered across Europe at the moment. But if it will satisfy the Elders for now I will temporarily reinstate Mister Giles as the Watcher of Ms Summers but only Ms Summers. Another Watcher is already on his way to Sunnydale to take Ms Lehane as a charge."

"I will inform the Elders but I believe they will be pleased for now," Leo replied. "However I would suggest that when you meet with your colleagues you inform them that the Elders will look favourably upon a positive decision and will encourage increased cooperation between the Watchers Council and the global magical community."

The fact that the Elders would do the exact opposite if the Inner Council didn't do what they wanted went unsaid though Quentin heard it as loudly as if it had been spoken through a loud hailer. Quentin knew his colleagues would not be happy at the Elders blatant blackmail and power politicking, indeed there would be much arguing, yelling and metaphorical rattling of sabres but in the end the Council would end up giving the Elders exactly what they wanted as they couldn't afford to lose any support in the magical community. Especially as they were still trying to rebuild some bridges that had gotten badly frayed during the sixties and seventies after a series of misjudgements by his own illustrious predecessors.

"Is there anything else," Quentin asked at last.

"No that is all for now," Leo replied standing up and offering his hand. "Thank you for seeing me Mister Travers."

"You're welcome," Quentin answered shaking the offered hand. The moment he released it the whitelighter orbed out. Sighing Quentin leaned back in his seat and for a moment considered crossing the room to his private bar and pouring himself a good scotch and wash away the unpleasant meeting. Unfortunately he couldn't do that so he reluctantly picked up his desk phone to call first personnel and then Mister Giles in Sunnydale to begin what was going to be some very uncomfortable conversations.

* * *

**Sunnydale**

**A Few Minutes Later**

Buffy grunted as she hit the ground hard as the result of a throw by one of the three vampires that she and Faith were currently battling. They'd just been coming to the end of their patrol, which had been a very successful one as they'd dusted a dozen fledglings this evening when they'd come across this particular group of vampires. A group that unusually seemed to be wearing some kind of matching leather uniforms and armed with swords that were brutally sharp. The deep cut on her right shoulder was testament to that as one had gotten her with its slash of its sword as she dusted it.

The fang face that had just knocked her down loomed over her demonic features contorted into an evil sneer as it raised its sword to stab her through the heart. Not about to give the vamp the chance she kicked out with all her strength knocking the vampire back into another which was backing Faith against the site of a mausoleum sending both vamps tumbling to the floor in a tangle of limbs. Not about to look a gift horse in the mouth or give the two vampire's time to disentangle themselves Faith leaped to the attack plunging her stake into the heart of the closest vampire.

As its companion exploded into a rain of grimy dust the remaining vamp sat up and backhanded Faith hard as she tried to stake him as well. Faith yelped as the impact sent her flying into and then over a grave stone. _Ooh you are so going to pay for that fang face,_ she thought with an angry growl as she leaped back to her feet to see the vamp engaged in combat with Buffy who'd somehow knocked the sword out of its hands to lay discarded nearby. It appeared however that in addition to being very good with a sword the vampire was also an accomplished hand to hand combatant and was giving the senior Slayer a run for her money.

In the end it made no difference as a kick from Buffy shattered the vampire's right kneecap sending it to its knees with a scream of pain. A scream that abruptly cut off as the blond haired Slayer drove her trusty stake into his heart sending him to the same dusty grave as the other two.

"Whoa that was a close one B," Faith commented as she dusted herself off and joined her sister Slayer. "Any idea who they were?"

"No," Buffy admitted before frowning. "They were damned good though. Are you alright you hit that gravestone pretty hard."

"I'm fine just a bit bruised, what about you you're bleeding?" Faith replied eyeing the wound on Buffy's shoulder in concern.

"Yeah that first one got me good with that sword," Buffy grumped groaning as moving her right arm sent a stab of pain across her shoulder, up her spine and into her brain. She glanced at the wound grimacing when she saw how wide and deep it really was the blade having pierced all the way through to the muscle. "Great," she muttered, "that's going to leave a scar even with Slayer healing."

"Not necessarily B remember what Xander said about his abilities as a whitelighter," Faith reminded her.

Buffy grimaced. "I keep forgetting about that," she admitted but then she hadn't spent a lot of time with Xander since he'd dropped that bombshell on them about him being dead and now a literal guardian angel. She was still trying to process it all as well as beating herself up about what had happened to Xander as it was her fault in the first place. She never should have tried to force him out of the slaying or made him feel like he couldn't count on her for backup as then he might not have had to face Jack O'Toole alone and end up getting himself killed. Though she supposed she should be grateful that he was in a way still alive just not human anymore instead being literally an angel.

Faith smirked. "Still beating yourself up about it huh Buff?" she asked, "you know if you don't stop Xander is going to have to verbally kick your ass. Though speaking of him… XANDER."

Buffy winced at Faith's at the top of her lungs yell and was about to open her mouth to tell her fellow Slayer to turn the volume down a few decibels but the words died on her tongue as in a flurry of orbs Xander materialised nearby. "No need to shout Faith," Xander complained as he walked up to them, "my ears are still ringing from it would you mind turning it down a bit next time? I'm dead not deaf."

"Sorry X," Faith answered, "B's hurt."

"So I see," Xander replied frowning as he looked at the wound on Buffy's right shoulder before putting a hand over it and concentrating, letting the information on how to heal that the Elders had downloaded into his brain when they'd made him a whitelighter come to the fore. Immediately a soft golden glow came from his hand and Buffy immediately felt the hot pain of the wound ease. She could only watch in amazement as the wound closed and healed completely without any form of scarring under the gentle wave of power coming from her Xander-shaped friend. "There," Xander said calmly as he stopped the emission of healing power and dropped his hand back to his side, "all done. Now you Faith."

"But I'm not…" Faith started to protest only for the whitelighter to cut her off.

"Yes you are I can tell your backs hurt now turn around," Xander said firmly prompting the dark haired Slayer to grumble about overprotective whitelighters and only being a flesh wound under her breath even as she did as she was told. A moment later she felt a warm pulse of energy pass through her and the dull ache of her bruised back muscles vanished under his healing touch. "You can turn back around now. So what happened?"

"Vamps," Buffy replied. "We were just coming to the end of our patrol when we encountered this last group of fang faces wearing weird uniforms and with swords."

Xander's eyebrows shot up. "Vamps wearing uniforms and carrying swords," he repeated "huh that's a new one."

"Tell me about it," Buffy agreed, "I knocked away one of the swords, lets pick it up maybe Giles will be able to identify it and tell us if there are any more where the three we just dusted came from."

"Good idea I'll orb you right over to his place," Xander replied. "Where'd you drop the sword?"

"Got it," Faith said holding up the sword and making the other two Scoobies jump as they'd be intent on conversation to see her move. Then she frowned. "Though do we have to orb? You know getting orbed somewhere makes me feel like hurling. Can't we just walk?"

"No," Buffy answered putting her foot down on the issue even though she did have to agree that the sensation of getting orbed was somewhat unpleasant. At least it was unpleasant to her, Faith and possibly Willow as well as the few times she'd seen him orb it never seemed to have any negative effects on Xander himself.

"Besides Faith as I said to you earlier a few more orbs and you'll get used to the feeling," Xander added smirking as Faith's shoulders slumped in defeat at the united front from him and Buffy.

"Alright fine but I'm charging you if I'm sick all over something," Faith grumped. Xander simply chuckled and put a hand on each Slayers shoulder. A moment later all three of them dissolved into a flurry of blue-white orbs and vanished.

* * *

As the orbs faded into the night Trick slipped out of the ornamental hedge where he'd taken cover and watched the fight between the Slayers and the vamps whose uniforms he recognised. His first master Kakistos had had a few run in's with the group and there demonic master over the years often to both sides chagrin. Why they were here in Sunnydale now he didn't know but he knew the boss would want to learn of it immediately.

Though the fact that the El Illuminati had apparently arrived in Sunnydale – and lost their first encounter with the Slayers – had not been the most interesting part of the battle he had observed. That had been in the aftermath and the revelation that Alexander Harris wasn't a human – or at least he wasn't one anymore – but was a damned whitelighter. A whitelighter who clearly knew how to use his powers given how he'd orbed in, healed both Slayers of the injuries they'd sustained in the battle and then orbed back out with them as his passengers.

How Harris could be a whitelighter he had absolutely no idea. All he knew about whitelighters – which truth be told wasn't very much as Kakistos had worked hard to make sure never to put himself or any of his minions in a position where they could really encounter one – said that they couldn't come to the Hellmouth and they had to be well dead. The conversation he'd overheard clearly indicated that that last part was correct, though last time he'd checked Xander Harris was very much alive much to the chagrin of much of the demon and vampire populations of Sunnydale as for a normal human Harris could be downright scary when he wanted to be, though the former part was now extremely suspect.

After a couple of moments he shrugged. The mystery would be something for the boss to solve. Wilkins definitely wouldn't be happy to learn that Harris was a whitelighter as that could well spell big trouble for the warlock turned mayor's plans for ascension.

Whistling to himself Trick slipped back into the darkness and began making his way towards city hall and what was sure to be an uncomfortable conversation with the warlock turned mayor. He just hoped he survived the delivering of the bad news.

* * *

**Giles Residence**

**That Same Time**

"…I understand. Thank you Mister Travers. Yes goodnight pleasant dreams."

The phone he was holding to his ear went dead and Giles put it back on its cradle his mind awhirl. He had been more than a little surprised when a few minutes ago his phone had rung and on the other end had been the head of the Watchers Council. Compounding the surprise was the shock that he was being reinstated officially as Buffy's Watcher as the result of a direct 'request' from the Elders. _By request Travers really means politicking the Council into it,_ Giles thought smirking knowing the Council would never dare to refuse such a request from either the Elders or the Powers That Be.

He wondered though why the Elders had abruptly decided to lobby for his official reinstatement as Buffy Summers Watcher. He couldn't help but see Xander's hand in it somewhere as it would be just like the younger man turned whitelighter to do something like lobbying his superiors for such an outcome. If the young man was involved in it then he owed him a hug in a very manly way of course as he'd been desperately worried about what would happen to Buffy, and how she'd react when a new Watcher showed up in Sunnydale to take his place. Now though he didn't have to worry though another Watcher was still coming but would now only be responsible for Faith, though predictably Travers had not said who the other Watcher was going to be. Whoever he or she was he had to admit to himself at least that he pitied them as the firebrand Faith was even harder to manage than Buffy was.

The ethereal almost musical sound of orbing drew him out of his thoughts and he looked over in the direction the sound was coming from. Just in time to see three familiar figures finish materialising. "Buffy, Faith, Xander is something wrong," he asked surprised and concerned that they'd orbed in as opposed to walking from the end of the girls patrol area. Clearly something was wrong, though he couldn't help but notice idly that both Slayers looked a little green.

"Possibly Giles," Buffy replied fighting down the discomfort from the magical teleportation with a minor amount of difficulty. "Do you know anything about a group of vampires who go around wearing uniforms, who carry swords and who are better at hand to hand fighting than most other fang faces?"

Giles frowned, the description rang a bell. "That's vaguely familiar from somewhere," he admitted "but for the life of me I can't remember where I've heard it before off the top of my head. Is that one of the swords Faith is holding?"

"Yeah," Faith confirmed.

"May I see it?" Without objection Faith immediately handed the ex-Watcher the sword and watched as he carefully studied it and the markings on the pommel. "Hmm this symbol I've seen it before but I'm not sure where. I'll have to check my books," Giles said putting the sword down on his desk. He would smuggle it into the library later – something he'd become quite adept at doing especially since that odious little homunculus Snyder had become Principal after the unfortunate demise of Principal Flutie – so he could check the markings against his records.

"And speaking of books any idea what Wilkins is yet Giles," Buffy asked.

"I'm afraid not Buffy," Giles admitted, "though our task of finding out just what he is and what he's up to might have just gotten a little bit easier. Just before you orbed in here I got a call from Quentin Travers."

Buffy scowled. "What did he want," she replied with a note of anger in her voice as she still hadn't forgiven Travers for using her mother as part of her 'test' during that cruciamentum ritual.

"Apparently I'm being formally reinstated as your Watcher," Giles answered, "the reinstatement is reluctant on the part of the Council but they've not been given a choice in the matter."

"So they did it then," Xander said smiling guessing what had happened.

"They did I take it you knew about this?" Giles quizzed the teen turned whitelighter.

"Not directly," Xander admitted. "Though I did have my suspicions based on what Elder Gideon said when I last talked to them."

"Whoa who did what," Buffy asked though she was ecstatic that Giles was being formally reinstated as her Watcher.

"A short time ago Buffy a whitelighter named Leo Wyatt apparently went to see Mister Travers at the behest of the Elders. They 'requested' that I be reinstated," Giles explained, "now regardless of his personal feelings Travers would have no choice but to honour the request. To do otherwise would risk alienating the Elders and through them a large chunk of the magical community something that the Council could not afford to happen. Basically they've played power politics with that overly traditionalist git."

"Go Elders," Buffy replied snickering as she imagined how Travers and his traditionalists would not like being basically bullied into reversing the firing of Giles as her Watcher. "So what did you say to the Elders before Xander?"

"Not much," Xander replied, "though they were not happy when I told them about that whole cruciamentum thing. Gideon especially expressed surprise and concern that the Watchers resurrected it. Apparently it was originally discontinued back in the nineteenth century as being just what it is cruel and barbaric."

"I hadn't heard that," Giles exclaimed, "though the heads of the Council in the Victorian and post-Victorian era were known to be quite liberal for the time. I'm not surprised that they'd discontinue the tradition, nor am I surprised that the traditionalists would resurrect it once they got back into power after the Second World War." He made a mental note to let his family and other modernisers know that fascinating and very juicy little titbit of information as it would go a long way towards eroding the support the traditionalists had built up in the last few decades.

Buffy smiled slightly as she could see her Watcher plotting on how to use that little bit of information against Travers and his ilk. Those bastards deserved a little taste of Ripper after what they'd put her through with the cruciamentum. She started to open her mouth to ask Xander to provide a little bit more detail on what he'd told his bosses about what the Council had done to her – assuming he could talk about it – but before the words could emerge from her lips the doorbell rang.

"Now who could that be," Giles said frowning before turning and walking to front door and cautiously opening it. To find himself face to face with a much younger man wearing a pinstriped suite with glasses and whose entire manner screamed novice Watcher. He looked vaguely familiar but he couldn't place him immediately.

"Mister Giles," the younger Watcher asked.

"Yes?"

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Wesley Wyndham-Price," the other man said offering his hand. "I'm here to replace you as Watcher to Miss Summers and Miss Lehane."

* * *

**Authors Note: Evil aren't I to leave it there *grin*. Well Wesley has made his first appearance in this chapter just as I promised and I will say he's going to get more than a few shocks as time goes on. I hope people like the changes I've made so far to the episode Bad Girls and the fact that the Elders are starting to take a much more active interest in what goes on with the Slayer now that they can no longer trust the Powers That Be to keep them informed.**

**Until next time.**


End file.
